A special thanks go out to hundreds of racers who braved the elements and came out to race the final race of the year. We had folks coming out from all over the country to enjoy the Southern California sunshine. Unfortunately mother nature threw us curve ball and decided to send a few showers our way to really challenge the racers and race crew.

The day started early with a light rain falling and grey clouds covering most of the sky. The final “12 & 6 Hours Of Temecula” series championship kicked off to what was sure to be an epic day of riding! After the first lap the rain stopped and the ego dirt appeared. Some say the trails were the best they’ve ever seen! Others were just excited the rain stopped. The trails blue grooved in and course was riding fast and fun. Competition was hot as the racers were vying for the coveted “champions jersesy’s” . As the day went on the rain decided to make an appearance once again. After seven hours of classic Vail Lake riding the trails began to rapidly deteriorate. Once 4 o’clock rolled around the SoCal Endurance team had to make one of the hardest decisions of the year. We had to end the race early. We were 8.5 hours into the race and had to take a hard look at safety issues and letting racers out on course in the night time with the slick and wet terrain! In the last 8 years of putting these races on we’ve never called a race early, but in this instance it was the right call. As tough as I know our racers are they will all survive to race another day!

One of the biggest stories of the year was young ripper pro Daniel Munoz. Daniel came out at the June race and took a surprising win over mountain bike legend Tinker Juarez. True to form Daniel took the win again and established himself as the 2011 SoCal Endurance Champion. On the women’s side Margaret Gregory took the win on the day and the overall championship went to SoCal’s very own Karen Lundgren! The most popular categories of the year were the 6 hour solo’s. The men’s 6 hour solo had racers from all over the country battling for the overall! In the end it was racer extraordinaire and all around great guy, Mike Hileman taking the jersey. In second place was was SoCal Endurances own Bruce Wilson followed closely by Robert Herber. On the ladies side it was Naoko Fujimaki followed closely by Rebecca Tomaszewski and Stephanie Mccormack. It was a year filled with triumph and memories! It was such a pleasure to host the endurance series this year. With all the smiles and dirty teeth it was you the racers who make our races so magic! As we move into the new year we here at SoCal Endurance wish all of you a Happy Holiday and fantastic New Year! Train hard and have fun! See you in the dirt!

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